Improvement in the construction of sugar-making apparatus



4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L. A. GOSSiN.'

Making Sugar.

No. 11,782. Patented 0ct.'10, 1854.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. A. GOSSIN.

Making Sugar.- y No.11,782. f Patehted Oct10,1854.

N. PETERS, P hhhh Ln aaa a aaaaaa shin le. n. C,

' 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. L. A. GOSSIN.

Making Sugar.

Patented Oct 10, 1854.

Ian. n cy "LiNirnio Srarns PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS A. GOSSIN, or TIIIBODEAUX, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUGAR-MAKING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1 L782, dated October 10, 1854.

5'0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Louis ALEXANDER GossiN, of Thibodeaux, in the parish of Lafourche and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful. Improvement in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Sugar, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a top view of a machine embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a side elevation showing the ar?angemcnt of the pumps; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the same; Fig. 4:, a transverse section through the line a: w of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 a similar sect-ion through the line 7% it of Fig. 1.

The manufacture of brown sugar from the saccharine juice expressed from the cane comprises three principal opcrations namely, defecation, evaporation, and concentration.

My invention consists of an improved apparatus for skimming and evaporating and among the properties and advantages of this apparatus the following may be enumerated: First, it is cheaper than any heretofore con structed, and capable of evaporating an equal quantity ofjnice; second, it will at a single operation convert the cane-juice into brown sugar of the best quality; third, it is not only more speedy in its operation, but requires much less labor to attend it than the older apparatus; fourth, by the thorough automaticskimming which takes place the filtering of the juiceis dispensed with, and yet the quality of the sugar is even better than that which has been filtered and evaporated by means of the older apparatus; fifth, by combining steam with open-fire heating of the evaporating-pans mineral coal may, with a great saving of ex 'pense, be used as fuel instead of wood, which arrangement the same fire heats the boilers and the evaporating-pans, instead of having a separate fire for the steamboilers according to the usual plan in sugar apparatus. The steam-boilers are connected by vertical and horizontal pipes, so as to maintain a free circulation of steam and water between them. The horizontal connecting-pipes are placed at suitable intervals to admit the evaporatingpans between them. The pan immediately over the furnace where the heat ismost intense is for the purpose of concentrating the sirup to the proper degree for crystallization after its water has been to a great extent driven offin the previous pans. As the juice is reduced in bulk during the process of evap' oration it follows that the pan in which the evaporation begins should be larger than those which succeed, which receive the juice in a partially evaporated state. and reduced in bulk.

In order that the pans may not be unnecessarily large and expensive, they are made to diminish gradually from the end of the se ries where the raw juice enters to the opposite end where the concentrated sirup is drawn off. The lower part of each pan is fitted with a series of horizontal flues, A, to increase the evaporat-ing-snrlace. The bottom of each snccessivc pan, counting from the furnace, is lower than that which precedes it, and the pan is of correspondinglyincreased capacity, as the tops of all are upon the same level. The lines of each succeeding pan are also lower than those of the preceding pan, and these gradations in the level of the fines, it is obvious, will greatly faciiitate the entrance of the flame into them. Each pan is fitted with a coil of pipe placed on the fines, in which steam is kept circulating, which has the effect of materiallyhastening the evaporation. The pipe of the coil in each pan communicates at one end with the steam-space in the boiler, and at the other end connects with an exhaust, pipe to conduct the waste steam into the atmosphere or into a condenser to utilize the heat or save the water.

Above each of the pans for evaporating the juice before it is reduced to the consistency of sirup an automatic skimmer is arranged, which consists of a series of perforated scoops, 13, mounted on endless chains which encircle pulleys (3. These skimmers are kept slowly revolving by gearing on the, axle D, which carries one pair of the pulleys G to a drivingshaft, E, by means of a worm-wheel. F, on the axle 1), which takes into and is driven by an endless screw, G, on the shaft E. The scoops, while moving on the lower side of the pulleys, penetrate the froth produced by the ebullition of the sirup, and separate from it those impurities which always rise with the froth. WVhen the scoops have ascended to near the top of the pulleys,they discharge the impurities which they contain upon an i11- clined apron, H, which conducts them to a trough, I, by which they are carriedinto some suitable receptacle. The sirup lifted withthe scum drains out of the scoops through the numerous perforations made in them before the scum is discharged upon the apron H. In case the scum raised by the scoops should not all be discharged before they pass the trough, then what remains will be caught by a second apron, K, inclined to the troughfrom the opposite direction. In this way, when the impurities are once raised from the sirup they are not in danger of being again returned. The sirup is prevented from overflowing the sides of the pans when it foams by surrounding the same with 'a high rim, L. The raw sirup is introduced into the largest pan 1, and after it has remained there until concentrated, so as to require a considerably-increased degree of heat to make it boil, it is then, by means of an endless-chain pump, M, or other suitable means, withdrawn through a pipe, N, at thebottom of the pan,conducted through the pump M, and discharged into the next pan, 2. p

The pump is of large size, that the transfer may be made quickly, in order to prevent the juice adhering to the sides of the pan from being burned before the latter can be refilled withfresh juice. In like manner the contents of the second pan, when they have reached the proper stage of concentration, are dis charged into the third, and those of the third are discharged into the fourth or last pan, in which the juice is concentrated into sirup suitable for crystallizing. As the, heat in the latter pan must be comparatively high in order' to evaporate the water from the sirup, several precautions against burning the sirup are necessary. Thus, for example, when the charge is to be withdrawn a damper, I, is pushed into the furnace to shield the bottom of the pan from the intense heat of the firef The gate Q is then raised and the concentrated sirup is suffered to flow through the pipe R into a suitable receptacle.

In order thatthe pipeR may not be heated so much as to discolor the sirup that adheres to its sides, the water for feeding the boiler is caused to run around this pipe on its passage to the boiler. The heat thus abstracted from the pipe is. conducted by the water into the l the juice from one pan to anoth r is to open the cocks and put the pumps in gear with the driving machinery.

One of the bevel-wheels that communicates motion from the driving-shaft E to the pump should be arranged to slide upon the shaft on a feather, and fitted with a shifting-lever to move the wheels into gear when the pumps are to be worked, and out again when it is required'to stop the pumps.

The steam for working the engine, which gives motion to the pumps and skimmers, is supplied by the same boilers which supply the coils of pipes within the pans.

In the manufacture of brown sugar, I do not propose to boil the juice in cacao,- but in refining sugar, which requires vacuum-pans to be used, I propose to cause the vapor of each pan to descend through a supplementary coil of pipe, circulating among the juice in the lower part of the pan, and after the vapor has imparted its surplus heat to the liquid to allow it to pass into a worm or through tubes in the next pan behind, and in case it still retains considerable heat I propose to pass it through still another coil of tube in a pan still farther back, and which is boiling at a still lower temperature. In this way much of the heat heretofore wasted will be utilized.

It is obvious that several of the devices I have described may be modified in structure and arrangement to adapt them to different situations or circumstances.

Having thus described my improved apparatus for evaporating cane-juice, what I. claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement of the boilers for generating steam, the pans for evaporating the juice, and the furnace, as herein set forth, whereby a single furnace is made to supply the heat for both the generation of steam and the boiling of sugar through the contact of the naked flame with the bottom of the pans.

2. The combination of the skimmer herein described, consisting of a series of scoops, B, inclined aprons H and K, and conduit I, operating as herein described, with the evapo ratingpan, substantially as specified.

3. I do not claim to be the inventor of a water-jacket, or of its application to any other purpose than the pipes of sugar-pans. All I do claim in reference to it is the combination, with the discharge-tube, of the sugar-sirup pan, of a jacket communicating at either side with and forming a part of the feed-pipe of the steam-boiler, whereby a stream of water is kept constantly flowing through thejacket to protect the sirup adhering to the sides of the pipe from being discolored by burning, as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name. 1

' LOUIS A. GOSSIN.

Witnesses:

P. H. WATSON,

"PETER HANNAY. 

